by Ralph Prince
“He led the Tants here,” one of the women in the crowd shouted, pointing an accusing finger toward Don. “He is a bringer of death. He has brought death upon us all. He is working with them.”
The murmur became a roar as the crowd became more agitated. A riot seemed eminent.
“Wait,” Karen shouted, stepping defensively in front of the captain. “Donald came here to help you. He fed you. It wasn’t his fault the Tants found us. Let him talk.”
“If I could speak with the Tants,” Don said, “and try to reason with them, I might be able to prevent a senseless slaughter. If I fail, you lose nothing; but, if I succeed, you’ve gained everything.”
“Do we talk?” Dillon’s voice thundered through the room, “Or do we fight?”
“We fight!” returned a chorus of voices along with cheers and whistles as many of the room’s occupants rose to their feet.
“We must attack them before they invade our home,” Dillon proclaimed. “We will take the fight to them.”
“If you try to fight them out there, you are all going to die,” Don yelled, quieting the crowd to a low murmur once again. “Don’t you see that? You can’t beat them. They have the tactical advantage up there. The best thing you can hope for is to stay here and defend your home.”
For several minutes, the rumbling persisted as the people spoke among themselves.
Joining the other Terrans, Jackie cast a sympathetic gaze upon her captain. She saw, in his face, the inner turmoil he felt.
“I have seen what their weapons can do,” Dillon said at last. “With such power, we could drive the Tants from the city forever. We could be free.”
Surveying the assemblage of Underdwellers, Don saw the glimmer of hope in each one’s eyes. They would blindly follow Dillon to their deaths if he didn’t prevent it, and the blood would be on his hands. He was their only hope, and he feared he wouldn’t be able to save them.
“Even with our weapons, we may have little chance of defeating them,” Don said, his voice low and threatening. “We will help you defend the caves, but if you take the fight to them, you fight alone.”
“If that is the case,” Dillon responded, his voice just as threatening, “I will not have my sister mated to a coward.”
Gazing deeply into Karen’s worried, pale-green eyes, Don slowly turned away and, with his head downcast, receded down the hallway leading toward the entrance shaft.
Karen started to follow, but was forcibly restrained by Dillon’s firm grip upon her arm.
“Donald,” she cried, tears forming in her eyes.
The retreating captain winced visibly at the sound of her outcry, but his pace did not falter.
“Don!” Jackie called, running after him. “Wait.”
Will watched as she overtook him and drew him to a halt. They conversed briefly, then he continued walking away from them. Slowly, Jackie returned to the room.
“What did he say?” Will asked as she approached. “Where’s he going?”
“He’s going to try to talk with the Tants,” she replied, her eyes moistening. “He said he was going to offer them a share of the supplies on the ship if they left the Underdwellers alone. He wants us to stay here and help defend the caves in case he fails. I’m not sure, but I think he was saying good-bye.”
CHAPTER 6: Broken Boy
Karen crept quietly through the maze of ducts and pipes that ran through the building’s sublevel, toward the stairs to the surface. Despite the absence of light, she could see well enough to navigate; it was a trait shared by many of the Underdwellers.
Having escaped her brother’s watchful eyes, she hoped to be on the surface before he realized she was gone. As she reached the stairwell, she was confident she would succeed. Cautiously, she opened the door, her keen senses alert to any threats that might await her. Though the Tants had not breached the caves, it seemed likely to her that they would send scouts to watch the entrance. Perceiving no imminent danger, she silently ascended the stairs to the entrance level.
Sunlight streamed in from the numerous glassless windows, bringing with it a strong sense of relief. The Tants were unlikely to be out after sunrise; they seemed intolerant of the bright light and heat. Still, she had misgivings about her quest. She wasn’t sure where Donald had gone after he left the caves. She began to fear he had returned to his ship, leaving her and her people to die. She wasn’t entirely sure she would blame him if he had. No, she reasoned, he would not have left Jackie and Will behind, were that the case.
The sound of joyful giggling touched her ears, causing her to pause. It wasn’t a sound often heard in the Underdweller community, and seemed even more out of place on the surface, where survival often depended on stealth and alertness. It was coming from outside, and was accompanied by a familiar voice: Iva’s voice.
She peered out onto the street, where the morning sun burned away the last of the night’s chill. There, she saw Donald sitting on a weathered concrete block. Next to him was the nameless boy, giggling into a disk-shaped object. She recognized the device as a communicator, identical to the one on the captain’s desk.
“Donald,” she said softly, tentatively stepping from the building’s cover.
Startled, the captain sprang to his feet, his hand reflexively reaching for the blaster at his hip. “Karen,” he said, relieved, yet surprised, to see her.
“I was so worried,” she said, rushing to him and throwing her arms around him. “I didn’t know if the Tants had captured you, or—”
“I’m fine,” he assured. “I’m sorry I left you down there, but my presence was inciting a riot. I had to leave before all hell broke loose.”
“I tried to follow you,” Karen said, burying her face in his chest. “But, Dillon wouldn’t let me.”
“I know,” said Don. “Does your brother know you’re here?”
“No,” she admitted reluctantly, drawing away from him and averting her amber-tinged eyes. “I snuck away to try to find you. I thought you might have gone back to the ship.”
“I came to the surface to try to get in touch with Iva,” Don explained. I’ve had her scanning the city to try to determine what we’re up against.”
The boy giggled once again, drawing their attention to where he sat, seemingly oblivious to Karen’s arrival.
“The boy followed me up here,” Don said.
“Dillon says he’s broken in the head,” said Karen. “Most of the time, he doesn’t seem to know anyone else is around him, but other times, he’ll follow a person for days. He doesn’t have anyone to provide for him, so we give him what we can.”
“He isn’t broken,” said Don, ruffling the boy’s dirty brown hair. “He appears to have some form of developmental disorder; a high-functioning autism. For whatever reason, he became fixated on me. The communicator fascinated him, so I let him play with it after I finished talking to Iva. She’s been entertaining him ever since.”
“Will you be coming back down to the caves?” Karen asked, concerned her brother would realize she was missing soon.
“I was just about to head down there when you showed up,” Don said, smiling at her. “Have you seen Jackie and Will lately?”
“They were with Dillon, and some of the other Underdwellers,” answered Karen. “They were organizing the defense of the caves and gathering stuff to make barricades.”
“Good,” Don said, excitement building in his tone as he took her by the hand. “I’ve got something to show you that may resolve the situation with the Tants.”
“What is it?” she asked, sharing his excitement.
“This, for one thing,” he said, stooping to pick up a short cylinder, closed at both ends, with a faded color picture and words she didn’t recognize on its paper wrapper.
Taking the object, Karen studied it with a bewildered expression on her face. “Is this a weapon?” she asked.
“No,” Don said, urging her toward the building. “I’ll explain once we’ve found Jackie and Will. Boy!” he called, att
racting the child’s attention, “Come on. You can play with that later; we have to go back to the caves now.”
“Roger, Captain Don,” the boy replied, sliding from the concrete block with a broad grin splashed across his filthy face.
“Yeah,” Don said sheepishly. “That’s what he calls me.”
Leading the confused girl by the hand, with the boy following close behind, Don hastily reentered the structure and descended to the guard station. After identifying themselves, they paused to activate a porta-light before beginning their descent into the caves.
As they neared the bottom of the shaft, Karen stopped as something caught her attention. To the side of the ladder, five meters above the floor, was a narrow opening. It appeared to be a partially opened hatch, with a single character to either side of the opening. Together, they read “L1”. She suddenly realized that, were the hatch fully open, it would be the same size as the tunnel leading to the caves.
“Donald?” she asked, leaning to the side so she could peer through the opening. Beyond, a darkened tunnel extended into the distance. “What is this?”
“It’s another level,” he replied, looking up at her from the bottom of the shaft. “It’s what I found. I’ll explain once we find Jackie and Will.”
“Many fun things,” said the boy.
Jackie and Will weren’t difficult to locate; the exhaustion of the previous night left them huddled together under a blanket in a corner of the mess hall.
Crouching in front of them, the captain cleared his throat, causing them to stir. “Well,” he said, “it looks as though the two of you are getting pretty friendly. You know inter-crew fraternization is against regulations.”
“Don!” Jackie said excitedly. Then she realized the meaning behind the commander’s comment. “Wait a minute, this isn’t what you think. We were just talking, and we must have fallen asleep.”
“Honest, sir,” Will affirmed, shaking the cobwebs from his head. “We weren’t doing anything.”
“Sure,” Don said, imitating the lady lieutenant’s characteristic mocking tone, “I believe you. Anyway, it’s none of my business.”
“You bastard,” Jackie scolded, remembering she was angry with him for causing her so much concern. “We were worried sick about you. You said you were going to talk to the Tants, and for all we knew, you were dead.”
“Obviously, I’m not,” Don said, coaxing them to their feet. “Come with me; I’ve got something to show you that may solve the Tant problem.”
“Many fun things,” the boy said again.
“Who’s your little friend?” Jackie asked, noting the boy’s attention rarely left the commander.
“He followed me earlier,” Don explained. “I tried to tell him to stay, but he’s pretty persistent.”
Jackie knelt in front of the boy, bringing her to his level. His attention seemed focused on Don as she studied his reactions, or lack thereof, to her gestures. Activating the medical scanner strapped to her forearm, she studied the readout on the display and shook her head.
“He’s a little under nourished,” she stated. “Other than that, he seems as healthy as anyone else down here; at least physically.”
“Autism?” Don asked.
Jackie nodded in affirmation. “If I had a genetics lab, maybe I could isolate the neurological defect and correct it,” she said. “But at his age, even that might not help. At least he seems higher functioning then many.”
“What’s this thing you wanted to show us?” Will asked, drawing their attention from the boy.
“This,” Karen offered, handing him the cylinder.
“Beans?” Will asked, reading the label aloud. “Is that what’s in here?”
“That’s only part of it,” Don said, turning away and motioning them to follow. “It might be easier to show you.”
Leading the bewildered crew, Karen, and the young boy back to the newly discovered tunnel, Don explained further as they went, “I was on my way to the surface when I noticed the second door in the shaft. I knew there were other levels aside from the one we were on. I assumed they were all below the living level; it never occurred to me there might be levels above it. Anyway, I forced the door and found another hallway leading to the complex.”
After following the tunnel for a distance that would have put them directly above the caves, large sliding doors appeared in the opposing walls. The latches on the doors was scorched and broken, evidence that the captain had used his blaster to gain entrance. Sliding one of the doors aside, Don led them into the immense room beyond. Rows upon rows of shelves, ten meters high, extended beyond the range of their light. On the shelves were dust covered crates and boxes of various sizes bearing the names of their contents.
Don turned toward Karen and the crew and extended his hands, gesturing toward the boxes.
“Many fun things,” announced the boy.
“Is this all food?” Karen asked in awe, reading many of the labels to herself.
“A whole warehouse full of it,” Don replied. “And there are half-a-dozen warehouses like this one. There’s food, water, building supplies, practically everything you can imagine. The original inhabitants must have been cut off from them, and they were eventually forgotten. There are enough supplies here to keep your people and the Tants fed for years.”
“The Tants?” Karen asked doubtfully, her excitement rapidly diminishing. “Donald, you still don’t understand. The Tants are, as Dillon says, ruthless killers. They won’t share; they’ll want it all.”
“Wait a minute, Don,” Jackie said, peering into one of the crates he had opened. “Are you even sure this stuff is still good? There’s no telling how long it’s been down here.”
“After a little exploring,” Don explained, “I went to the surface to talk with Iva.”
“Shiny talking rock,” said the boy. “It makes funny sounds.”
“I took a few cans, from various places with me,” he continued. “I scanned them for radiation, and found no trace. We’ll have to run more tests before any of it is eaten, but the containers seem to be intact. A supply like this should keep indefinitely.”
“So what now?” Will asked. “You said the Tants would probably attack tonight. That doesn’t give us much time to take samples to the ship for testing. We can’t leave these people alone to fight them.”
“That’s for sure,” Don said. “Iva estimates there are over fifteen thousand of them out there, and I would guess at there being only about two to three thousand Underdwellers. We’ll seal this level off until after we’ve tested the food. Jackie, you and Will go below and prepare for the attack. Continue setting up blockades and obstacles in the hallway; anything that will slow the Tants down. That’ll be the most defensible position. Karen,” he said finally, “take the boy below and find somewhere safe to keep him. I don’t want either of you involved in this.”
“What about you?” Karen asked, concern prevalent in her tone. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to talk to the Tants,” he replied. “If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to prevent unnecessary bloodshed. I’m going to offer them a peaceful coexistence with the Underdwellers, and an equal share of the food.”
“No, Donald,” Karen protested, “you can’t. The Tants will kill you.”
“It’s a possibility,” Don said, softly stroking her hair, “but I could never live with myself if I didn’t at least try to prevent this. I’ve already seen too much death.”
“Let me go with you,” she pleaded, embracing him tightly. “I don’t want to leave you, Donald.”
“It’s too dangerous,” he objected. “You could be hurt, or even killed.”
“I would rather die with you,” she said bravely, “than live without you.”
Realizing there was nothing he could say to change her mind, he tried another course of action. “You can come with me,” he said, “but only if Dillon agrees to let you go.”
“But Donald,” she whined, knowing her brother wou
ld never agree. Dillon would be angry if he even knew she was with Donald. “I’m old enough to make my own decisions,” she argued, pulling away from him. “I’m not a child.”
“Of course you’re not,” Don said. “But you are the only person Dillon has in this world. You’re his only family. He loves you Karen, and it wouldn’t be right if you didn’t at least tell him where you were going. If something were to happen to you out there, he would never know. That would crush him.”
“You’re right,” she conceded reluctantly. “I will talk to him.”
“Okay, then,” Don said, clasping his hands together. “Everyone knows what to do. I’ve got a few more things to discuss with Iva, so I’ll be on the surface. Don’t worry, Karen,” he said, noticing the concern in her eyes, “I’ll be back long before dark.”
“I go with Captain Don,” said the boy, tugging on the captain’s arm.
“Not a word,” Don scowled as a mischievous grin arched across Jackie’s lips.
“You really should find a name for him,” Jackie said, kneeling in front of the boy again, and wiping the dirt smudges from his face. “I think Don Jr. would be appropriate.”
“I’ve got a better idea,” Don said, ignoring her teasing. His thoughts turned to a person he once knew who shared the child’s exuberance and sense of wonder. “How about Victor,” he suggested. “It means conqueror.”
“Victor,” the boy repeated. “My name is Victor.”
CHAPTER 7: Under the Gun
The three stood in the searing heat of the late afternoon sun, as the lengthening shadows draped over the post-apocalyptic cityscape like a burial shroud, bringing with them a solemn stillness that even the wind dared not disturb. The silence heralded the imminent darkness and the imagined terrors that had haunted children throughout history. But the monsters the coming night would yield were real.
